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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25437643">Hidden in the Heart</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightace/pseuds/lightace'>lightace</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Trev [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age: Inquisition</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Celene and Briala have problems but it's complicated y'know?, During Canon, F/F, Gen, Pre-Relationship, inquisitor goes by Trev, so is Leliana and Morrigan's relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 07:16:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>16,085</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25437643</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightace/pseuds/lightace</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Inquisitor (reluctantly) attends the Winter Palace and works behind the scenes to stop the empress' assassination and winds up making it the most exciting party in ages. She might also open her big mouth and practically admit her feelings to Leliana in the middle of the whole mess. Great.</p>
<p>A rewrite of my personal favorite mission 'Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts', with Trev bumbling along with Cassandra and Dorian in tow.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dorian Pavus &amp; Cassandra Pentaghast, Female Inquisitor &amp; Cassandra Pentaghast, Female Inquisitor &amp; Dorian Pavus, Female Inquisitor/Leliana (Dragon Age), minor Briala/Celene Valmont</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Trev [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1842511</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>63</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Hidden in the Heart</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Finally finished! And it's only been.... sixteen months!?</p>
<p>So I've been kicking around this idea practically since I finished the In Hushed Whispers one, but because the last year has been just one stressful mess after another re: work, it took me way too long to finally get everything together.</p>
<p>And it's 16k words haha i have no self-control help</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Do we really need to go to this stupid ball?” Trev asks for at least the fiftieth time. They’re almost to the Winter Palace now, riding in the middle of a long line of horses and caravans. “Why couldn’t we just send a note again? ‘Someone’s trying to kill you. Love, the Inquisition.’” She spreads her hands theatrically and glances sideways at Cassandra and Dorian.</p>
<p>Cassandra, who is just as thrilled as Trev is about the ball, works her jaw in clear frustration. “We have tried, apparently,” she grinds out through her teeth. “Both Josephine’s and Leliana’s messages were apparently intercepted before they reached anyone interested in protecting the empress.”</p>
<p>“And so here we are,” Dorian says, huddled deeply into his cloak against the Orlesian wind. “It’ll be a party just like the ones at home, us in the middle of a very nice party where half the attendees want us dead. Just maybe with a little less blood magic.”</p>
<p>Trev winces. “I sure hope so,” she mumbles. “This is going to be enough a shit show without blood mages running around. I mean, really, what idiot decided to send <em>me</em> to this party?”</p>
<p>“You were severely outvoted, as I recall,” Cassandra replies wryly. “And in response, you decided the best people to bring along were myself and Dorian.”</p>
<p>“And Vivienne.”</p>
<p>“The one smart choice among them all, assuredly.”</p>
<p>Dorian clicks his tongue and smirks. “Really, though, my dear Cassandra, look at the options here. She could have brought Sera and the Bull. Or Cole. Imagine him creeping about like he always does, speaking everyone’s innermost thoughts. There would be a riot before we even reached Empress Celene!”</p>
<p>Cassandra’s face twitches. “Point taken,” she says quietly with barely restrained horror.</p>
<p>/</p>
<p>The afternoon before the ball is spent with Josephine, reviewing and being quizzed on everything Trev would need to know for the ball. She isn’t retaining all the information, but Trev is honestly impressed with how much she actually does remember.</p>
<p>“And please,” Josephine says once it’s almost time for the party to start, and she looks at Trev with an openly pleading look, “please do not lose your temper and ruin everything. If we- if <em>you</em>- fail, then we are one step closer to losing this war.”</p>
<p>And Trev, who remembers the future she’d traveled to all too well, who still sees it in her dreams, drops her usual blase attitude and says gravely, “I promise you, I’ll control myself.”</p>
<p>/</p>
<p>Gaspard meets their retinue at the gate, babbling away with his eyes glittering behind his mask. Luckily, Trev and the rest of the Inquisition had been able to forgo masks of their own, so as a group, their faces were open just like their intentions, at least as far as they wanted everyone to believe.</p>
<p>Most of the others hang back by the entrance, leaving Trev and Josephine to handle the duke. Trev glumly glances back over her shoulder at Dorian, who gives her a jaunty wave and quickly ducks into a nearby crowd. Abandoned by even him, it seems.</p>
<p>“Imagine,” Gaspard is gushing when Trev tunes back in to the conversation, “what the Inquisition could accomplish with the full backing of the rightful emperor of Orlais!”</p>
<p>Josephine is far too professional to roll her eyes, but Trev thinks she can see her stifling the urge anyway. “I can’t <em>imagine</em> who you’re referring to, Duke Gaspard.”</p>
<p>“The handsome and charming one, of course,” he replies glibly, and Trev wishes she could get away with miming retching into the nearest flower arrangement. Maker, five minutes and she’s already exhausted.</p>
<p>But Josephine simply smiles at him before gliding away toward where Leliana and Vivienne have their heads ducked together, leaving Trev alone in the duke’s stifling presence.</p>
<p>“Well then,” Gaspard says briskly, rubbing his hands together with obvious glee, “are you ready to walk into the Grand Ball on the arm of a hateful usurper, Lady Inquisitor? We’ll be the talk of the town for ages.”</p>
<p>“There are worse people to accompany.”</p>
<p>“I shall take that as a compliment,” Gaspard says brightly and offers her his arm. Trev reluctantly takes it and allows him to lead her toward the palace’s entrance. “If I might, Inquisitor,” he says lowly once they’re inside, “that elf Briala I’m afraid is planning on disrupting tonight’s negotiations. My men have found her people scattered all over.”</p>
<p>Trev glances at him from the corner of her eye. “You’re sure they weren’t just the servants?” she asks with faux lightness. Gaspard clucks his tongue at her.</p>
<p>“I assure you,” he growls, “she has more than enough reason to wish harm on Celene, Inquisitor.”“I’ll keep that in mind.”</p>
<p>Any further conversation is thankfully stopped by their arrival into the ballroom. Trev takes a moment to make sure the rest of the Inquisition is with her and finds them not far behind her with varying degrees of pleasant smiles on their faces. Aside from Cassandra, of course, who looks like she’s willing the ground to open up and swallow her, and Cullen, who looks like he’d accidentally kicked a puppy.</p>
<p><em>Deep breath, amatus</em>, Dorian mouths at her, grin gentling at the corners into something more genuine. Trev does as he says and tries her best to push down her nerves and the frustration that is already forming in her temples.</p>
<p>Too late to back out now, she thinks to herself, and follows Gaspard into the ballroom.</p>
<p>The chatter immediately falls to a hush at their entrance before the muttering begins, everyone leaning in close to their neighbors as their eyes follow the progression of the Inquisition toward the stairs. Gaspard strides before them with his head high, almost preening.</p>
<p>“Introducing,” a voice says from near Trev’s shoulder, “Grand Duke Gaspard de Chalons. And accompanying him-” The crier glances at Trev and jerks his chin toward the stairs, and Trev takes a moment for one last calming breath before she follows Gaspard. “Lady Inquisitor Alicia Trevelyan, daughter of Bann Trevelyan of Ostwick.”</p>
<p>May he drown in his oatmeal, Trev thinks bitterly as she bows toward Celene on the balcony, who gives her a nod in return. Her mask gleams in the candlelight, eyes hidden beneath the light’s reflection, and Trev gives up trying to read what is available of her expression and follows Gaspard down the rest of the stairs.</p>
<p>“Vanquisher of the rebel mages of Ferelden, crusher of the vile apostates of the Mage Underground. Champion of the Blessed Andraste herself.” Trev resists the urge to roll her eyes and tucks her hands behind her back as she turns to watch everyone else enter. Cassandra, of course, has no such reservation; Trev can clearly see her grimace of disbelief.</p>
<p>“Did you see their faces?” Gaspard whispers giddily as he leans toward her ear. “Priceless!” Trev smiles wanly and tries to subtly lean away from him. She feels more than sees Vivienne glaring down at her in reproach.</p>
<p>“Accompanying the Inquisitor,” the crier continues, much to Trev’s relief, “Ser Cullen Stanton Rutherford of Honnleath. Commander of the forces of the Inquisition. Former Knight-Commander of Kirkwall.”</p>
<p>Immediately, the whispers begin again, several women and a few men leaning heavily over the banisters to watch him. Cullen looks rather green as he descends the stairs, fingers twitching at his sides. He’s eying Trev like an oasis in the desert as he takes short, hurried steps toward her while trying his best to not seem like he’s rushing. After him, Leliana looks positively serene.</p>
<p>“Lady Leliana, Nightingale of the Imperial Court. Veteran of the Fifth Blight. Seneschal of the Inquisition and Left Hand of the Divine.”</p>
<p>It’s clear she’s as in her element here as she is poring over the War Table pushing the pieces around and figuring how best to use the realm’s secrets to help the Inquisition. She murmurs something into Cullen’s ear that finally has him cracking the slightest of smiles.</p>
<p>“Lady Josephine Cherette Montilyet of Antiva City. Ambassador of the Inquisition.”</p>
<p>As Josephine strides toward them, steps purposeful and chin raised, Trev’s battle companions appear at the top of the stairs, Vivienne leading them. Cassandra looks sour as she slinks down the stairs, and Dorian is giving one of his patented charming - and fake - smiles.</p>
<p>“Madam Vivienne de Fer, First Enchanter of the Circle of Magi,” the crier reads as Vivienne floats down the stairs. “Enchanter of the Imperial Court. Mistress of the Duke of Ghislain.” There’s a pause, then what Trev has most been looking forward to all night, “Seeker Cassandra Allegra Portia Calogera Filomena-”</p>
<p>“Get on with it!” Cassandra snarls up at the man, who pales suddenly and coughs.</p>
<p>“Pentaghast. Fourteenth cousin to the King of Nevarra, nine times removed. Hero of Orlais. Right Hand of the Divine.”</p>
<p>If it was possible, Cassandra somehow looks even more aggravated now. And finally, bringing up the rear, Dorian is doing his best to stifle his laughter and keep smiling.</p>
<p>“And Dorian Pavus, member of the Circle of Vyrantium, son of Lord Magister Halward Pavus of Asariel.”</p>
<p>Were she not afraid of the repercussions, Trev would have met him at the bottom of the stairs and kissed his hand, just to see the reactions. She settles instead for shooting him a wink as frantic whispers fill the room.</p>
<p>Celene watches them all with a critical eye as they approach her. “Cousin, dear sister,” Gaspard says with only the slightest trace of a sneer.</p>
<p>To her credit, Celene’s expression does not so much as flicker. “Grand duke,” she returns, and Trev doesn’t miss the use of his title rather than an acknowledgment of their relation. “We are always honored when your presence graces our court.” She sketches a slight curtsy and smiles pleasantly at him.</p>
<p>Gaspard’s own expression twists in clear distaste. “Do not waste my time, Celene. We have business to speak of.”</p>
<p>“We will meet <em>after</em> the other guests have been seen to,” Celene replies coldly and with a clear order in her voice, and surrounded as they are by some of the most important people in Thedas, Gaspard can only curl his lip and bow submissively.</p>
<p>He throws one more pointed look toward Trev before stalking away; Celene doesn’t spare him another glance, focusing instead on Trev, who meets her gaze with as placid an expression as she can manage.</p>
<p>“Lady Inquisitor,” she says, tone even and with enough warmth that Trev might almost think it genuine. “Welcome to the Winter Palace.”</p>
<p>“Thank you for allowing us, Your Grace,” Trev says with a bow. “I must say, the accommodations here are much nicer than what I’m usually a part of.”</p>
<p>Celene almost smiles before stepping aside to reveal Florianne standing at her shoulder. “May we present our cousin, the Grand Duchess of Lydes, without whom this gathering would never have been possible.”</p>
<p>“An unexpected pleasure,” Florianne says once she curtsies. “Who would have thought the Inquisition would honor us with their presence? We <em>must</em> speak later, Inquisitor.” She smiles down at Trev like she’s a particularly appealing piece of meat. A chill runs up Trev’s spine, but she reigns in the physical shudder.</p>
<p>In a whirl of skirts, she disappears from Celene’s side, quickly heading for an open terrace at the back of the room. Celene doesn’t bother watching her leave.</p>
<p>“Your arrival tonight is a cool wind on a summer’s day,” she says pleasantly. “All of us here have heard much of your exploits. They have made grand tales for long evenings. Perhaps you will delight some of us here tonight with your own versions?”</p>
<p>“I’ll do my best not to disappoint with them.”</p>
<p>“Enjoy the ballroom, Inquisitor,” Celene says, a clear dismissal, and Trev bows and backs away toward the others as Celene calls out, “And it is of course lovely to see you again, Lady Vivienne.”</p>
<p>Her smile seems almost genuine now, and Vivienne returns a smile of her own and curtsies before she tucks her arm into Trev’s and leads her away from the empress.</p>
<p>“You did well, Inquisitor,” she murmurs into Trev’s ear as she leads them toward a corner where most of the Inquisition has shuffled off to together. “But before you get down to business, Leliana wants a word.”</p>
<p>Trev nods and squeezes Vivienne’s wrist. “Go do what you do best,” she says in return, and Vivienne smiles with her teeth and glides off deeper into the ballroom.</p>
<p>There is already a small crowd forming around Cullen in the corner, but despite the pleading look he sends Trev’s way, she simply waves and smirks and sidesteps a few of his admirers to find Leliana leaning on a nearby table.</p>
<p>“Vivienne said you needed to speak with me,” Trev says, sidling up to the other side of the table. Leliana is watching the crowd with sharp eyes and doesn’t spare Trev a glance.</p>
<p>“We haven’t had a chance to speak since we arrived,” she says grimly. “I know we must keep an eye on the ambassador, but there is someone else whose presence has come to my attention. The Empress’ ‘occult adviser.’ An apostate who has seemingly charmed the court as if by magic.”</p>
<p>“Wait,” Trev says, standing up straight and goggling at Leliana, whose mouth is set into a very grim line as she glares out at the crowd. “The empress keeps an apostate in open court? How in the world does that work with the war?”</p>
<p>“There has always been an official position, but it has always been little more than a mockery. Vivienne was the one who turned the position into something with true political power. This woman could very well be who we’re looking for, so keep your eyes open.”</p>
<p>“Elves and apostates. Who’s next, a Qunari?”</p>
<p>Leliana huffs what could almost be a laugh. “Check the area around the library first. We’ll do our best to hide your disappearance.”</p>
<p>“Sure. Be careful.”</p>
<p>“The same to you.”</p>
<p>Leliana deftly steals a glass of champagne from the nearest waiter before wading into the crowd, and Trev watches her go for a moment, chewing on the inside of her cheek, before she turns to find where Cassandra has slunk off to.</p>
<p>/</p>
<p>Cassandra and Dorian had been a duo that Trev had never considered to work together, but she finds the two of them in a nearby courtyard and being given a wide berth by the gossipers, who aren’t even bothering to hide their aghast mutters.</p>
<p>“Enjoying yourself?” Trev asks as she joins them, aware of the eyes now following her as she props an elbow on Dorian’s shoulder. He leans against her just slightly to give her a better angle and tilts his head toward hers. “I’ve heard several interesting names for you just on the walk over, Dorian.”</p>
<p>“Isn’t it delightful?” Dorian chirps, beaming at them. “My father would positively die if he knew where I was right now!”</p>
<p>Cassandra, arms crossed and radiating an aura of unpleasantness, looks at him appraisingly. “I’m taking him along to any more parties I’m forced to attend. No one has bothered us since we arrived.”</p>
<p>“A match made in heaven,” Trev says giddily. “Should I expect word of an engagement soon?”</p>
<p>Instantly, Cassandra’s expression flattens. “Not in this universe or any other,” she deadpans, which only makes Dorian cackle loudly, drawing even more flustered whispers.</p>
<p>“My dear Cassandra,” he says, slipping out from Trev’s arm and taking one of Cassandra’s hands in his, much to her displeasure, “believe me when I say that it would be a nightmare to us both.” He follows his words with a wink that makes Cassandra scoff and roll her eyes before she shakes him off of her.</p>
<p>“Where to, Inquisitor?” she asks, and Trev allows her smile to fade as she relays Leliana’s words.</p>
<p>Not too long later, they find themselves searching a line of storage rooms together, wading through paintings, furniture, and enough documents to keep a fire burning for a month. Dorian is flitting between keeping watch and helping search, as well as providing a running account of the people milling in the courtyard below.</p>
<p>“One of Leliana’s people,” he’s saying as Trev is elbow deep in a dusty wardrobe. “Met him a few weeks ago. Wonderful lover.”</p>
<p>“I did not need to know that!” Trev calls over her shoulder as she flips open a letter signed by Gaspard. Badmouthing Briala again, of course. She tucks it into her pocket.</p>
<p>“I’d be willing to share,” Dorian replies cheerily. “Or maybe there’s someone else you’re thinking of?”</p>
<p>He leans around the doorway with a positively shit-eating grin. Trev throws a book on Antivan art at him.</p>
<p>They end their search at the library around the corner, the torches inside light by veilfire. The occult adviser is nowhere to be seen, luckily, and the three of them throw themselves into the search with gusto. The Inquisitor will be missed in the ballroom before long, if she hasn’t been already.</p>
<p>Both Cassandra and Dorian keep throwing longing expressions toward the bookshelves lining the wall, but Trev points to the research tables in the corner and takes the books for herself. She’ll be less distracted by them than the others will.</p>
<p>Most of them are dusty, clearly untouched for a long time, and Trev takes to running her hands along the spines until she finds a shelf that has been recently disturbed. The titles are nothing conspicuous, a collection of Dalish legends and customs, but the latch hidden behind them is rather interesting.</p>
<p>A hidden door creaks open, and Trev grins and climbs down from the top shelf she’d found the release just as Cassandra and Dorian join her, the former frowning and tucking a few pieces of paper away into her jacket.</p>
<p>The hidden office is clearly something oft-occupied and heavily used. Papers and quills are scattered all across the top of the desk, tucked between several magical artifacts that Trev has no idea the use of. The shelves of books here are free of the slightest hints of dust, and several lie open on the shelves themselves, pages marked with scraps of paper and, in one curious instance, a child’s workbook.</p>
<p>And in the middle of it all, a note to someone called Lady M, apparently the empress’ occult adviser.</p>
<p>“Ha!” Trev cries victoriously, holding the letter aloft. “Gotcha! The empress trusts this mage totally, it seems. So either Celene is a very bad judge of character or we might actually have an ally around here.”</p>
<p>“No name?” Dorian asks, peering around her shoulder to read the note, hastily scrawled and signed personally by the empress’ hand.</p>
<p>“I’ll give it to Leliana. Maybe she’ll know who the M stands for.”</p>
<p>Trev tucks it into the breast of her jacket for safekeeping and leads the way from the hidden room and the library, erasing any traces of their presence as they go and quickly hurrying back toward the sounds of the party.</p>
<p>They go their separate ways at the entrance to the ballroom with a whispered order from Trev to keep an ear out for anything interesting while she makes an appearance to the court to keep the suspicion off them a little while longer and checks in with Leliana.</p>
<p>Trev reaches a hand toward the ballroom door, but before she can reach it, another hand lands on the knob instead.</p>
<p>“Well, well,” a smooth voice breathes into Trev’s ear, “what have we here?”</p>
<p>A hand quickly wraps itself around Trev’s bicep, and then she’s being bodily hauled out of the vestibule and into a nearby abandoned room. Not wanting to make a scene, Trev allows the iron grip to shove her into the room but turns as soon as she’s released, a hand reaching for the dagger wrapped against her forearm.</p>
<p>“Peace, Inquisitor,” the person says as she sound of the lock sliding home echoes through the quiet, dim room. “You were the one who wished to find me, so here I am.”</p>
<p>The woman lifts a hand, and a small flame flickers to life in it, and Trev blinks and finds herself staring down at a woman who is eying her like the Iron Bull eyed a buffet table.</p>
<p>“Lady M?” Trev asks, a hand on the note inside her jacket. “You knew we were there then?”</p>
<p>“Of course,” M says, lighting a nearby torch and casting the room into a slightly warmer light. “No one steps foot inside my office without me knowing. But the real question here is what could bring such an exalted creature such as yourself to the Imperial Court? Do even you know, <em>Inquisitor</em>?”</p>
<p>She drawls the title with such derision that Trev can’t help but grin a little. “Not a true believer, I take it?”</p>
<p>“I was raised on Dalish folktales, Inquisitor,” M replies dryly. “What do you think?”</p>
<p>Despite herself, Trev laughs. “Nice to meet you, my lady. I have a feeling we have similar goals here tonight.”</p>
<p>“Indeed.” M inclines her head but doesn’t make a move to curtsy, much to Trev’s relief. She’s had rather enough of people prostrating themselves in front of her, thank you. “I am Morrigan, Inquisitor, Empress Celene’s arcane adviser.”</p>
<p>“Trev, the person attached to the magic hand.”</p>
<p>Morrigan smirks. “A pleasure,” she drawls. “Onto business. I recently found and killed an unwelcome guest in these halls. More unwelcome than yourself, that is. An agent of Tevinter. Since I am unable to leave Celene’s side for long tonight, you must do my work instead.” She procures a key from the folds of her dress and holds it out to Trev. “I found this on the agent, but I’ve no idea where it leads.”</p>
<p>“That’s where I come in, then,” Trev says, taking the key and turning it over in her hands. It’s unmarked and with any sorts of adornments that might hint to what it unlocks. “One of my people might have an idea by now.”</p>
<p>“That’s what I am counting on,” Morrigan says. “I have it on good authority that your people are excellent at their jobs.”</p>
<p>Trev stares down at the key for a few more seconds before disappearing it into an inner pocket of her jacket. “Thank you, Morrigan. I appreciate the help.”</p>
<p>“Of course. ‘Tis my job to assure the empress’ safety.” There’s a pregnant pause, and Morrigan’s eyes flash dangerously. “Just hold up your end, or I promise you, you <em>will</em> regret it.”</p>
<p>“And that’s <em>my</em> job tonight. You have my word.”</p>
<p>“Excellent.” Morrigan’s expression relaxes, and she smirks as she turns to unlatch the door. “And say hello to your spymaster for me, will you?”</p>
<p>Before Trev can do much more than blink owlishly, Morrigan has disappeared, and the second bell is chiming, meaning she is now fashionably late to returning to the party. Her allies will be pissed if she doesn’t burst through the door in the next minute.</p>
<p>She straightens her outfit and does her best not to appear rushed as she pushes into the ballroom. The balcony provides her a good view of the floor below, and she quickly spots Leliana standing off to the side of the dance floor with Josephine. Vivienne is deeply engrossed in conversation on the other side of the room, but she sends a brief wave Trev’s way without glancing away from her partner.</p>
<p>Trev takes the stairs, intent on Leliana, but once again, she finds herself whisked away into the corner of the ballroom by a trio of ladies in identical masks.</p>
<p>“Lady Inquisitor,” one of them trills as Trev is pinned between them. “A word from the empress for you.”</p>
<p>“Truly?” Trev spits back with more venom than intended. Maker, she just wants to do her <em>job</em>.</p>
<p>The ladies tut disapprovingly at her. “We speak for Empress Celene,” one says, gesturing to her mask, which Trev belatedly recognizes as one Josephine had spoken of as House Valmont. “And she has a message for you.”</p>
<p>“Very well,” Trev says, glancing back to where Leliana and Josephine still are. “What is it?”</p>
<p>“The empress has promised her full support to the Inquisition as soon as the usurper Gaspard is defeated,” another of the women says, and Trev starts, surprised. She hadn’t expected such open support from Celene, rather subtle pushes and glances. “She believes wholeheartedly that the Inquisition is our best hope in these troubled times.”</p>
<p>“Yes, she looks forward to a formal alliance,” the third says. “Once Gaspard is no longer nipping at her heels.”</p>
<p>Trev nods. “Thank you for the message, ladies. Assure the empress that we are honored by her offer.”</p>
<p>“Enjoy the masquerade, Inquisitor,” the ladies sing-song and then disperse as quickly as they had arrived.</p>
<p>Down the stairs, Leliana and Josephine are waiting. They quickly draw Trev into their bubble, ducking their heads together to hide their lips from prying eyes.</p>
<p>“Well?” Leliana prompts, but Trev eyes the fourth person in the huddle with a frown.</p>
<p>“Ah, don’t worry, Inquisitor,” Josephine says, smiling widely, “this is my sister Yvette. To anyone else, it will simply appear as if I am introducing you.”</p>
<p>Yvette is staring at Trev with clear awe in her eyes, so Trev nods stiffly and does her best to ignore the stare as she relays what they had learned in the library and what Morrigan had told her. At the mage’s name, however, Leliana goes as stiff as a board.</p>
<p>“You’re joking,” she says in clear disbelief. “Morrigan is here playing lapdog to the empress. Now I really have seen everything.”</p>
<p>“She said to say hello,” Trev says, eying Leliana curiously. “You know her?”</p>
<p>Leliana sighs and reaches up to cover her face with a hand, looking aggravated. “Yes, I do. We worked together during the Blight.” Trev feels her jaw flop open, as does Yvette’s; Josephine tilts her head slightly, looking interested. Leliana lowers her hand and looks at Trev with a steely expression. “And I can’t believe I’m saying this, Maker take me, but you can trust her.”</p>
<p>“You honestly don’t seem too sure,” Trev remarks, peering curiously at her. There is a low anger simmering just under Leliana’s closed expression.</p>
<p>“I am. Old habits die hard.” Leliana shakes her head. “That key most likely goes to the servant’s quarters. Briala’s people are reporting some missing. And no one has come out that has gone in all night.”</p>
<p>“Venatori,” Trev growls. Leliana nods. “I’ll take Dorian and Cassandra and go take a look.” She straightens and forces a light smile, nothing like the roiling nerves she truly feels. “It’s been a pleasure, Lady Yvette,” she says, bowing as the woman flushes a pretty red visible even with her dark skin. “Perhaps we can speak more later.”</p>
<p>“I would be honored, Inquisitor!” Yvette gushes. “I have plenty of stories about Josie I’m sure you’d love to hear!”</p>
<p>“And on that note,” Josephine says, clasping her sister’s shoulder in a firm grip, knuckles white and teeth clenched into a frightening smile, “be well, Inquisitor.”</p>
<p>Trev grins and makes her way back to the courtyard where she’d left Dorian and Cassandra earlier, hearing Josephine begin berating her sister as she does, not that Yvette seems to be the slightest bit bothered. Even Leliana is laughing, a sound that makes Trev’s stomach flip.</p>
<p>Her two stalwart companions are sharing a bench now and involved in a very one-sided conversation about wine. Dorian had not found the empress’ selection to his liking, it seems. He is currently proclaiming the merits of an old Antivan wine to a bored-looking Cassandra when Trev greets them.</p>
<p>“You guys ready for a real party?” Trev asks with a grin. “I just got word there’s a rumble going on downstairs.”</p>
<p>Instantly, Dorian sobers up. “Naturally,” he says, straightening and dusting himself off. “A little extermination of my countrymen?”</p>
<p>“Most likely. Briala’s people are disappearing right and left.”</p>
<p>“Lead on, Inquisitor,” Cassandra says grimly.</p>
<p>/</p>
<p>Cassandra steals a sword and shield off a suit of armor on their way downstairs, and Trev slides her daggers free from where they’ve been hidden in the small of her back all night. Dorian is unfortunately left without a staff, but he assures them with a grin that he’s just as dangerous without one.</p>
<p>The key unlocks the servant’s quarters just as expected, and Trev eases her way inside with Cassandra close enough to breathe on the back of her neck. Instantly, the smell of fresh blood assaults Trev; she grimaces and raises a sleeve to her nose.</p>
<p>“Maker,” Cassandra mumbles, kneeling by the nearest body and reaching for its neck. She shakes her head after just a moment, expression wavering between dismay and anger. “What a mess,” she growls, shutting the elf’s eyes with a tender hand.</p>
<p>The kitchens are empty of anyone living, so they slink into the gardens with their weapons ready. There are a few more bodies scattered among the trellises, and blood is smeared across the cobblestones, trailing a route all along the path and down to the fountain gurgling quietly in the middle of the garden.</p>
<p>“That’s not an elf,” Trev says, motioning toward the body hung over the side of the fountain, floating in the bloody water. Cassandra grimaces but dutifully pulls the man from his watery grave.</p>
<p>The body flops wetly onto the masonry, revealing a badge clutched in a clenched fist, seemingly ripped off a Chalons soldier. “Dammit, Gaspard,” she growls as Cassandra stares down at the body with a stormy expression. “Just couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you?”</p>
<p>There’s the sound of footsteps on the stonework, and the three of them turn to see an elf dressed in the uniform of the palace sprinting full tilt toward them, panic clear on her face. Before Trev can do much more than turn toward her, a blade bursts from the woman’s chest.</p>
<p>“Shit!” Trev swears, lurching forward. As the body slides off the blade, she flings one of her daggers as flames roar to life at Dorian’s fingertips.</p>
<p>The attacker is an Orlesian harlequin, dressed all in white and with red and white smeared gaudily across its face. It easily ducks Trev’s dagger, which bounces harmlessly off the stone wall behind it, and disappears under cover of a smoke bomb just as Trev charges. By the time the smoke clears, the harlequin is gone, and Trev swears again loudly.</p>
<p>“Trev!” Dorian cries, and Trev ducks away toward the wall where her dagger had fallen just as a fireball flies across the garden and lands in the middle of a charging squad of Venatori.</p>
<p>The air in the garden is quickly filled with the shrieks of burning men, followed by a loud cracking as Cassandra charges through the group of them, shield raised. One Venatori goes spinning away under the impact and toward Trev, and she ducks away from his fall and slices open his throat just as he hits the ground.</p>
<p>There’s a tickling warmth across her shoulders then as Dorian covers her and Cassandra with a barrier, just in time for a lightning bolt to come crackling across the courtyard. The barrier absorbs the spell with a flare of warmth, and Trev throws Dorian a quick thanks before diving at the exposed back of a Venatori grappling with Cassandra.</p>
<p>Cassandra rears back and slams her forehead into the man’s nose, and he lets out a sharp cry of pain just as Trev’s dagger slides between his ribs and into a lung. He sinks to the ground, and Trev steps on him as she jumps toward the mage that’s been lurking at the back.</p>
<p>Fire roars alongside her as she reaches the mage, grasping for the staff he’s wielding and twisting until either he decides to let go or his wrists snap. Dorian’s flames lick at their heels, and the man quickly glances between Trev’s face and the fire before letting go of the staff and stumbling backward straight onto Cassandra’s waiting sword.</p>
<p>“Behold, the real reason we’re all wearing this gaudy shade of red tonight,” Dorian says as he approaches, grinning. “May I, Trev?”</p>
<p>She hands him the staff, which he twirls appraisingly a few times while Trev turns to Cassandra. “You think the Venatori were with the harlequin or was it just a coincidence?”</p>
<p>“Who knows?” Cassandra rumbles, wiping the sword on the dead mage’s robes. “Either way, the duke has a long to answer for. He’s most likely responsible for all the dead elves down here.”</p>
<p>“Poor bastards,” Trev mutters, casting a dark glance back toward the kitchens and the bodies of the elves. “You know not all of those were Briala’s people.”</p>
<p>Cassandra shrugs. “Orlais at its finest, Inquisitor. Innocents caught in the middle of their damned Game.”</p>
<p>Trev grimaces and looks toward where the Venatori had come from. The area is dimly lit, illuminated by a few candles and even fewer lanterns, and with a quiet reminder to stay alert, Trev leads the way inside.</p>
<p>Footsteps are easy to hear on the marbled floor, and the three of them surprise another squad of Venatori in a large sitting room, fire crackling across the floor and Trev charging in the shadow of Cassandra’s shield.</p>
<p>The Venatori scatter quickly; Dorian whirls with his staff and envelopes the room in a roaring inferno, flames leaping from the polished flooring and reaching hungrily for the Venatori. Cassandra and Trev barrel through the flames, and Cassandra crushes an archer beneath her boots.</p>
<p>Trev ducks under her arm and grabs the nearest Venatori around the throat with an arm, slipping a dagger under the bottom of his armor and into the soft skin of his stomach. Cassandra shatters the jaw of another with the edge of her shield, teeth flying through the air and rolling across the floor as the man drops with a pained groan.</p>
<p>The last Venatori tries to escape through the wall of flames, eyes wide and panicked at the sight of the three of them so quickly cutting down his allies. Dorian’s flames wrap around the man, and he screams for only a moment before they consume him, leaving only a small pile of ash behind.</p>
<p>Trev wrinkles her nose at the now familiar smell of burned flesh. “Shit, Pavus, I hate that damn smell.”</p>
<p>He tosses his head, unbothered. “I think you’d be should used to it by now, Inquisitor.”</p>
<p>“It’s foul,” Trev shoots back. He quirks a brow at her and shrugs.</p>
<p>They search the nearby rooms, but the only thing of any interest they find is a locket in the back of a hidden safe, tucked beneath a particularly dry contract that Trev can’t be bothered to read more than three words of.</p>
<p>“Pretty,” Dorian remarks when Trev shows it to him but doesn’t seem otherwise interested. He goes back to searching the opposite corner of the room, but Trev turns the locket over and stares at the masterfully painted tree there.</p>
<p>Cassandra points them toward another Venatori squad down the hall, a group of three mages huddled together in the dim moonlight through a nearby window. They all turn at the sound of their approach, and Cassandra throws out a hand as one of the mages lifts his staff.</p>
<p>The screams that follow are bloodcurdling, and Trev watches with wide eyes as Cassandra advances on them, not taking her eyes off the mages and with a hand still raised. The Venatori crumple to the ground and continue to scream.</p>
<p>Only a motion from Cassandra’s shield prompts Trev into action, and she quickly hurries forward to finish the job. Once all three mages are dead, she turns toward Cassandra, intending to ask what she’d done, only to find the harlequin they’d been searching for standing in a nearby doorway, staring at them with wide eyes.</p>
<p>“Shit,” Trev swears and lunges for him, but she’s too slow. The man backpedals quickly and makes to flee, only for a dagger to sprout from his throat; he collapses with a bloody gurgle.</p>
<p>Briala ducks to retrieve her knife without a flinch, and she says as she’s wiping the blood away, “Fancy meeting you here, Inquisitor. Shouldn’t you be dancing?” Her voice is deceptively light as she stands and tucks the knife away into her dress; she’s eying Trev with clear mistrust.</p>
<p>“There are more important things going on tonight than dancing, Ambassador,” Trev tells her seriously.</p>
<p>“Indeed.” Briala glances over Cassandra and Dorian, eyes catching and holding on the latter with narrowed eyes. “What brings the talk of the ball down here with the servants?” She tilts her head just slightly. “And leaving a trail of dead bodies behind her.”</p>
<p>“We didn’t start it,” Trev says. “The kitchens-”</p>
<p>“I saw them,” Briala says through clenched teeth. “I came here intending to find and avenge them myself, but I see you’ve thoroughly beaten me to it. It’ll take months to get all the Tevinter blood out of the floors. Not to mention the scorch marks.”</p>
<p>Dorian giggles. “I might have gotten a little carried away.”</p>
<p>“Like you’re not always so dramatic,” Trev says with a roll of her eyes, and Dorian makes an affronted noise behind her.</p>
<p>Briala studies them with piercing eyes. “So, the Council of Heralds’ emissary back in the fountain,” she motions back toward the gardens, “that’s not your work, I take it?”</p>
<p>“No, he was already dead when he found him, Gaspard’s mark in his fist.”</p>
<p>Finally, Briala smiles, though it’s really more of a smirk. “As I expected. Though you are his guest here tonight, you aren’t doing his dirty work.”</p>
<p>“I do my own dirty work,” Trev deadpans, and Briala chuckles. “All I’m here to do is make sure the empress survives the night. The dead Venatori are just a bonus.”</p>
<p>“Yes, the duke’s actions have become increasingly desperate. Smuggling in chevaliers, killing a council emissary, Tevinter assassins, he’s obviously making his move tonight.”</p>
<p>“Are we sure the assassins are his?” Trev asks, but Briala shakes her head.</p>
<p>“Who else would it be? He is Orlesian, Inquisitor; they hide horrible intentions with a bright smile.” Her voice drips bitterness, and Trev thinks about the locket tucked into her sash and wonders. “Nevertheless, I apologize for my treatment of you tonight, Inquisitor. I appear to have been wrong about you.”</p>
<p>Trev snorts and deadpans, “You’re not the first.”</p>
<p>“Consider what I could add to your cause, Inquisitor,” Briala says, smiling sharply. “We can discuss more after Gaspard’s plot is foiled and the empress is safe.”</p>
<p>“I’ll have my people contact your people,” Trev says dryly, and Briala chuckles again. “Be careful, Ambassador.”</p>
<p>“Farewell, Inquisitor.”</p>
<p>Briala turns and starts toward the gardens, giving Cassandra and Dorian a curt nod as she passes. Trev watches her retreating back and chews on the inside of her cheek as she fingers the locket. What’s the harm, she figures, and calls after Briala.</p>
<p>“Ambassador!” Briala pauses and turns to see Trev dangling the locket between her fingers. Immediately, Briala goes stiff as a board, shoulders a taut line and her jaw clenching. “This wouldn’t happen to be yours, would it?”</p>
<p>Before Trev can say anything else, Briala is just a few scant inches from her, staring at the locket with an unreadable look in her eyes. She takes a quiet, shuddering breath before she meets Trev’s eyes.</p>
<p>“Yes, it’s mine. Where-where did you find it?”</p>
<p>“In a safe with some of the empress’ other belongings.”</p>
<p>“Oh, Celene,” Briala breaths just loud enough for Trev to catch, and she reaches up to run a hand reverently over the locket. Then, she seems to catch herself and takes a step back and straightens, staring at Trev with hard eyes. “It’s yours to keep, Inquisitor.</p>
<p>It meets nothing to me anymore.”</p>
<p>Trev, a person with eyes and a working brain, doesn’t believe her in the slightest, but she just nods and tucks the locket away again. Briala stares at where the locket had disappeared for a few seconds longer before turning and sweeping off down the hall.</p>
<p>The silence she leaves behind is deafening. It’s finally Dorian that breaks it almost a full minute later, with a quiet whistle between his teeth and a muttered, “Well, that’s quite the turn of events.”</p>
<p>Trev shakes her head. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”</p>
<p>/</p>
<p>They leave the borrowed weapons in the courtyard with some of Briala’s people and return to the party, and Trev heads for the ballroom after making sure the flecks of blood on her uniform are hidden and she doesn’t look like she’d been running around down in the dregs of the palace fighting for her life.</p>
<p>She barely makes it inside the ballroom before she is accosted again, this time by the Duchess Florianne.</p>
<p>“Greetings, Inquisitor,” she says. “We met briefly when you arrived.”</p>
<p>“Your Grace,” Trev says with a slight bow. “What can I help you with?”</p>
<p>Florianne tucks her arm into Trev’s and leads them toward the railing overlooking the dance floor. “I believe that the both of are are concerned about the actions of a certain person tonight.”</p>
<p>Trev glances sideways at her. “This isn’t a coincidental meeting,” she says, not a question. The grand duchess smiles and pats her on the hand.</p>
<p>“Nothing that happens in Orlais is a coincidence. Now, let us dance. Our words will be harder to overhear on the dance floor.”</p>
<p>She steers them toward the stairs and the dancing mass below them, and Trev reluctantly allows it, grudgingly grateful to Josephine’s strict dance lessons. At least she won’t embarrass herself dancing with one of the most important people in the room tonight, even if she wishes she had a different partner.</p>
<p>Trev catches the rest of the Inquisition watching her as she joins the dance floor with the grand duchess on her arm, Cullen with curiosity while Leliana and Josephine exchange dark glances across the ballroom. Up on one of the balconies, Vivienne raises her glass of wine with an approving nod.</p>
<p>They take their places on the floor just as a new song begins, and Trev falls quickly into the leader’s steps, counting in her head and trying her best to keep her eyes off her feet.</p>
<p>“I hear you are from the Free Marches,” Florianne begins, and Trev expects any derision she hears about her homeland is imagined. Florianne would never be so careless as to <em>actually</em> sneer down at the Marches in public. “How much do you know of our little war?”</p>
<p>Only someone who had never seen how much devastation their war had caused would refer to it as <em>little</em>. Trev swallows her disdain. “What do you think I <em>ought</em> to know about it?”</p>
<p>Florianne peeks sideways at her with an expression that Trev can’t read. “My brother and dear cousin have been at each other’s throats for too long. It took such great effort to arrange tonight, and yet someone would use it tonight to commit blackest treason. Neither of us wish to see the empire fall, yes?”</p>
<p>“Do we, Lady Florianne?” Trev says archly.</p>
<p>“Indeed. I do hope we are of one mind on this, Inquisitor.”</p>
<p>“In times such as these, it is hard to tell friend from foe, you know.” Trev maintains eye contact as she spins the duchess, and she sees Florianne’s lips twitch almost imperceptibly. She takes that to mean approval of her words.</p>
<p>“You arrived here as a guest of my brother tonight, and have been crawling all around the palace. To many eyes tonight, you are a curiosity, Inquisitor, but a matter of much concern to others.”</p>
<p>Trev smiles. “A feeling I am familiar with. But I must ask, which am I to you, Your Grace?”</p>
<p>“A little of both, actually,” Florianne says, which might just be the most honest thing she’s said all night. “Tonight is of great importance, Inquisitor. I wonder just what role you will play in it all. Can you even know who is friend and foe in this room? Who in the court can be trusted?”</p>
<p>Trev leads them around the edges of the dance floor and thinks carefully about her answer. She’s never been good at trusting anyone since her own family’s betrayal as a child, but tonight, in these past months, she has found some people that she really, <em>sincerely</em> trusts.</p>
<p>“I trust only my own people, Lady Florianne. They have earned it. And anyway, I hear it’s everyone for themselves in the Imperial Court.”</p>
<p>“Indeed. In the Winter Palace, <em>everyone</em> is alone. It cannot have escaped your notice that certain parties are engaged in dangerous machinations tonight.”</p>
<p>“And here I thought ‘dangerous machinations’ were the national pastime in Orlais.”</p>
<p>Trev turns quickly on her heel and dips Florianne low, and she sees the duchess staring at her with flinty eyes. As Trev pulls her back to her feet, she becomes aware that they are the only pair on the floor, everyone else having moved to the edges to murmur and watch. Trev’s skin prickles uncomfortably.</p>
<p>“You have little time,” Florianne murmurs as they make their way to the edge of the dance floor, her voice losing the airy, dismissive tone she’d carried for most of their dance. “The attack will come soon. You must stop Gaspard before he does something terrible. In the garden in the Royal Wing is my brother’s mercenary captain. I’m sure you can be very persuasive.”</p>
<p>They reach the edge of the floor and turn to face each other, and Trev mirrors Florianne’s ending bow just as the song ends. Trev straightens with an impassive face and doesn’t allow her lip to curl. “I’m sure I can,” she says evenly, without a trace of inflection, then turns on her heel and marches away as the room bursts into applause.</p>
<p>As Trev climbs the stairs, she catches sight of Josephine near the exit to the ballroom, and Trev sidesteps a pair of swooning ladies and slides an arm around her ambassador’s elbow. Her teeth are grinding together almost painfully, and she is surprised her face isn’t twitching with the scowl she’s repressing.</p>
<p>Josephine guides them to a small room off the vestibule. Inside, Leliana is sitting stiffly on a chaise while Dorian lounges on a sofa and Cassandra leans against a back wall looking sullen.</p>
<p>“You were excellent, Inquisitor!” Josephine says once the door is shut behind them, smacking Trev on the arm rather hard in her excitement. “A perfect dance; ah, I’m so proud of my student!”</p>
<p>“Yes, I’m rather glad you were such a harsh taskmaster now. I’d have looked a right idiot without all that practice.” Trev squeezes Josephine’s arm and smiles, and Josephine beams.</p>
<p>Dorian props a foot on the couch and grins at her. “Perhaps we should take you dancing more often, Trev.”</p>
<p>“I’ll stick to stabbing things, thank you,” Trev shoots back dryly.</p>
<p>“I assume the duchess has something important to say when she dragged you onto the floor?” Leliana asks sharply, and Trev looks askance at her, eyebrow raised. Leliana ignores the silent question with her usual indifference.</p>
<p>Trev perches on the arm of Dorian’s couch, leaning back and propping a foot on his ankle mostly just to bother him. He rolls his eyes and doesn’t move. “Florianne implied - heavily, I might add- that Gaspard is the traitor, but even with what we saw down in the servant’s quarters, I can’t quite buy it.”</p>
<p>“Cassandra filled me in while you were dancing,” Leliana says, nodding. “I think at this point the only person we can clear of suspicion involving the Venatori is Briala. I can’t see her ordering her own people killed.”</p>
<p>“I assume the duchess would be willing to throw her own brother to the wolves?” Cassandra asks darkly.</p>
<p>“Yes. If it meant saving herself, she would give him up in a heartbeat.”</p>
<p>“We were right betting on tonight,” Trev adds. “Florianne said herself the attack will come soon.”</p>
<p>Josephine sighs. “Warning the empress would be a waste of time. If she flees, the traitor will simply wait for another opportunity, and we lose our advantage. Not to mention the lives hinging on tonight’s peace talks.”</p>
<p>“Perhaps, then,” Leliana says grimly, “we should let her die.”</p>
<p>The room goes silent, all eyes on Leliana, who does not so much as bat an eye under the sudden scrutiny. Josephine of course looks horrified at the idea. Trev grimaces.</p>
<p>“I thought the whole point of tonight was to <em>not</em> let the empress get killed?” she asks, staring over at Leliana with a deep frown.</p>
<p>Leliana leans forward and props her elbows on her knees, hands pressed to her chin. She’s burning a hole in the floor with her eyes. “What Corypheus wants is chaos. Celene is no guarantee of stability. Look at the state of the Exalted Plains.”</p>
<p>An image of a tide of corpses rising from the earth flashes in Trev’s mind, and she quickly quashes the stirrings of nausea.</p>
<p>“You are not seriously considering this, Inquisitor?” Josephine asks, somewhat shrilly. She tears her wide eyes from Leliana’s hunched form to where Trev is hanging halfway off the arm of the couch.</p>
<p>“I-” Trev says, then stops, staring at Leliana.</p>
<p>“The best path is not always the easy one,” Leliana murmurs, just loud enough for them all to hear.</p>
<p>It’s quiet again. Trev’s mind is spinning faster than her body had on the dance floor. She presses her palms against her eyes and hisses a breath out through her teeth. When she opens her eyes again, she sees Cassandra standing across from her, her position unchanged from when Trev had first arrived, but her jaw is clenched so hard that it must be aching and her eyes are flinty.</p>
<p>“Okay, everybody out,” Trev says, springing to her feet and pointing at the door. Everyone stares at her, until she waves her arm pointedly and glares.</p>
<p>Dorian and Josephine leave with only a quick worried glance at her, and Cassandra leaves without making eye contact. When Leliana moves to stand from her chair, Trev whirls on her.</p>
<p>“No, you stay,” she growls, and Leliana blinks and does as she’s told, spine rigid and expression stony.</p>
<p>Once the door shuts behind the others, Trev drags a chair to sit in front of Leliana. She sits down with more force than entirely necessary, and the poor chair groans beneath the abuse.</p>
<p>“Alright, let’s talk. We’ve been saying for <em>months</em> that we need to stop the assassination attempt. Is this idea of not saving her a new idea or is that what you’ve really been thinking this whole time?”</p>
<p>Leliana looks at her, jaw rigid. “I have considered the idea multiple times, of course, along with a hundred other ways we could hold Orlais together. Celene’s rule has been a tumultuous one, and if we were to put Gaspard in her place, we could use the fact that we helped put him into power to hold some sway over him.”</p>
<p>“Honestly, my choice is to put Briala on the throne and burn the palace to the ground,” Trev deadpans, and Leliana snorts and glances away.</p>
<p>Trev sighs and sits back in her chair, rubbing hard at her temples. She can feel pressure forming behind her eyes. While she can’t fault Leliana’s idea on a logical level, she can’t bring herself to go along with it.</p>
<p>“Look,” Trev says tiredly, seriously, and Leliana looks back at her with a pensive expression. “In Redcliffe, in that godsdamned future we were thrown into, they told me that Thedas fell into chaos after Celene was killed. And I know this probably sounds stupid to you, but I want to do everything I can to distance this world from that one. So the idea of letting the empress die just gives me such fucking anxiety and-”</p>
<p>She stops and rubs at her face. Even now, months later and after facing down Corypheus and his archdemon dragon and almost dying beneath Haven, it’s still Redcliffe that wakes her in the middle of the night. It’s Cassandra’s face, eyes glassy and expression forever frozen in pain as her body thumps onto the floor. It’s Vivienne with the ice in her eyes and the resignation to her death as she’d walked away. It’s Leliana standing with her back to her, reciting the chant and launching arrows at the approaching demon hoard, skin gaunt and ragged as if being held on her bones by sheer willpower along.</p>
<p>It’s Leliana being killed by a demon, her eyes closed and looking almost peaceful in death.</p>
<p>Trev almost vomits on the nice carpet. Instead she flops her head back against the top of the chair and takes a deep shuddering breath.</p>
<p>“It still bothers you this much?” Leliana asks quietly, and her eyes are soft and sad when Trev looks at her.</p>
<p>“It was a fucking nightmare,” Trev says bluntly, staring down at her fingers twisting in her nice dress pants.</p>
<p>Leliana slumps back in her own chair and gives a long sigh. “I understand where you’re coming from,” she says, and she sounds tired right down to the bone. “I’ll support you in whatever decision you make tonight.”</p>
<p>“Thank you,” Trev says and means it.</p>
<p>They’re both quiet for a few minutes as Trev pulls herself back together. Being haunted in her dreams by Redcliffe is different than reliving it here in the light, sitting in front of someone who had died then. Despite the wish of the future Leliana that she forget, Trev still can’t.</p>
<p>“I don’t think I ever apologized,” Leliana says quietly, “for how I treated you after-after Haven. I was so angry that you would just throw your life away so easily, with how much you mean to everybody, to everything.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, well, I guess the shoe was on the other foot then.”</p>
<p>“Ah,” Leliana says, her eyes wide, and Trev grimaces. She might as well have just blurted out <em>I’m stupidly awfully in love with you</em>.</p>
<p>For as well as Leliana seems to understand other people and how to use her knowledge to get as much advantage as she can, she is apparently surprisingly dense sometimes when it comes to herself and her own importance as a <em>person</em>, rather than what she can offer to the world.</p>
<p>“Come on,” Trev says, standing and holding a hand out to Leliana. “The others will be wondering what I’ve done with you.”</p>
<p>Leliana takes her hand after a moment’s hesitation, and Trev pulls her to her feet, the two of them almost smacking heads at the proximity. Trev quickly lets go of her hand and steps away, feeling her ears burn.</p>
<p>Outside the room, Cassandra is waiting, clearly having been guarding the door to ensure their privacy. She gives Leliana a nod and a concerned look before she turns to Trev.</p>
<p>“We found a note in Gaspard’s office,” she says as Leliana returns to the ballroom. “He’s sending his captain to the western wing.”</p>
<p>“Florianne was right then,” Trev says. “Alright, I’ll meet you there in a few minutes. I have something to return to the empress before we go, though.”</p>
<p>Cassandra raises a brow. “If you’re sure. Be careful, Inquisitor. Who knows what beast you might be prodding with that locket.”</p>
<p>“Only one way to find out,” Trev mutters, pressing her fingers to the locket inside her pocket.</p>
<p>/</p>
<p>Once Trev flashes the locket to the empress’ ladies, they are quick to fetch the empress. Celene’s expression is as serene as a lake, but Trev can see the way her eyes follow the locket as it swings back and forth against the balcony Trev is leaning on.</p>
<p>“Inquisitor,” Celene says, her eyes now firmly on Trev. “I regret we could not speak until now. I understand you have shown my ladies something that required my attention.”</p>
<p>“I’m sorry to pull you away from your party, Your Majesty,” Trev says with a smile she almost means. “But I found this while I was searching earlier, and I assumed you would want it back. It was stored along with some important valuables, after all.”</p>
<p>Celene lifts a shoulder slightly, almost a shrug. “It was sentimental,” she says hesitantly. Trev raises an eyebrow; Celene purses her lips. “I don’t know why I kept it,” she says, her voice quiet as she stares at the locket wrapped in Trev’s fingers. “It was a foolish thing to do.”</p>
<p>“Matters of the heart invite foolishness,” Trev says with a tired smile, her mind helpfully supplying the image of Leliana’s face just fifteen minutes ago when Trev had stupidly opened her mouth and said too much.</p>
<p>“You sound like you know that very well, Inquisitor,” Celene says, not unkindly.</p>
<p>Trev shrugs. “It’s nothing. What happened between you and Briala, if you don’t mind me asking?”</p>
<p>“A clashing of ideals, of course,” Celene says as she leans carefully against the balcony and looks out over the gardens. “She wanted change for her people and wanted me to be the one to enact it. But you cannot change the heart’s of an entire people overnight, even if you can the laws. Now, though, I wonder if I should have listened, should have been braver. But it is all the past now and beyond my capacity to change.”</p>
<p>“For what it’s worth,” Trev says, “I’m sorry.”</p>
<p>“Thank you, Inquisitor. And I am sorry for your own heartache.”</p>
<p>Trev chuckles. “My heart is the least of my problems right now, I assure you.” She holds the locket out toward the empress, who stands from the railing and looks at it with stormy eyes.</p>
<p>“No, keep it,” Celene says, a bit of iron back in her voice. “Do whatever you’d like with it. It means nothing to me.”</p>
<p>It’s obvious Celene is trying to convince herself even as she says it, but Trev just nods and tucks the locket away as Celene returns to the ballroom where Briala and Gaspard are waiting, the two of them glaring furiously at each other from opposite sides of a table.</p>
<p>On the edges of the ballroom, Trev finds Cullen surrounded by his own fanclub. He immediately perks up at the sight of Trev.</p>
<p>“Inquisitor!” he cries, and most of his admirers turn to watch her approach. “What can I do for you?”</p>
<p>He looks so desperate for something to do, Trev feels bad for leaving him on his own for most of the night. “Commander,” she says, setting a hand on his arm heedless of the glares it suddenly prompts from Cullen’s admirers. “May I steal you away for a moment?”</p>
<p>“Of course!” Cullen looks ready to grab her in a bear hug. She smirks and steers him away with her hand on his shoulder, snickering to herself at the looks of disappointment and jealousy they leave in their wake.</p>
<p>“Having fun?” she can’t help but tease as they wedge themselves into an abandoned corner.</p>
<p>“They won’t leave me <em>alone</em>,” he whines. “And I can’t even use the bathroom as an excuse because the <em>men</em> insist on accompanying me.”</p>
<p>Trev claps a bracing hand on his shoulder. “Shall I send over Dorian, then? Cassandra has been using him as a buffer all night.”</p>
<p>“Don’t mock me, Trev,” Cullen grumps, hunching his shoulders. “They’re going to pester me about <em>you</em>, now. Maker’s breath, I think I prefer the demons.”</p>
<p>“Well, good news, then. I have some work for you. I’m bringing Cassandra and Dorian with me to the royal wing, so I need you to get your people into position in case shit flies before we get back. The duchess is pointing some nasty fingers.”</p>
<p>“At once,” Cullen says with a happy grin, quickly scurrying off.</p>
<p>Trev glances over to find his admirers are all watching her with varying degrees of anger. Never one to pass up an opportunity, Trev flashes them a wide smile and waves before she heads off to fetch her team. Some of the nobles turn a hilarious shade of red.</p>
<p>/</p>
<p>The royal wing is in nicer shape than the servant’s quarters, none of the dusty furniture or rubble scattered across the floor. It is also thankfully full of less dead bodies.</p>
<p>“Have I said yet that I’m glad we left Sera at Skyhold?” Dorian asks as they peek into someone’s bedroom, the fire blazing but the room otherwise empty. “Not that I don’t love her - I do - but can you imagine how many trinkets her sticky fingers would be grabbing?”</p>
<p>“I’d really rather not,” Cassandra says dryly. “I get a headache just thinking about it.”</p>
<p>Trev is just opening her mouth to make some terrible joke about arrows when someone screams. It comes from farther down the hall, and Trev’s boots slide precariously on the floor in her haste to reach the door and fling it open.</p>
<p>Inside the room is an elf laying prone on the floor while a harlequin stands over her, daggers raised. Before she can think better of it, Trev yells, “Hey, jackass!” and starts across the room in a run. The harlequin pauses and looks up, but her foot meets his gut just as he turns, and with a yell, he goes flying out the third floor window.</p>
<p>“Thank you, thank you!” the elf cries, sitting up and pulling her knees to her chin. She’s pale as snow, and she shakes visibly as she sits there hugging herself. “Maker, thank you!”</p>
<p>Trev kneels down beside her just as she hears Cassandra and Dorian enter the room, the telltale sound of fire burning in Dorian’s hands. Before they can do something rash like jump the poor elf, Trev waves a hand at them to stand down. The fireball fizzles out.</p>
<p>“Are you all right?” Trev asks the elf in a soft voice. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”</p>
<p>“N-no,” the elf says, shaking her head. “Just caught me by surprise is all.” She pauses and looks at Trev, and her eyes go wide. “Oh no, you’re the Inquisitor. I’m so sorry! I should have-”</p>
<p>She wrings her hands, looking frantic, but Trev just waves her own hands to stop whatever words are about to come flooding out. “It’s okay, really. Stopping death is what I’m here for.”</p>
<p>The elf sags and presses her forehead to her knees. “Nobody was supposed to be here. Briala said that- ah, no, I shouldn’t have trusted her.”</p>
<p>Trev glances back at her friends, who are looking back with identical wary expressions. She looks back at the servant. “Ambassador Briala sent you here? For what?”</p>
<p>“She wanted Gaspard’s sister’s rooms searched. I don’t know what she was expecting us to find, but I guess I know now.” She glances toward the window with a frown. “Should have known it was a trap.”</p>
<p>Briala wanted Florianne’s rooms’ searched? Trev could imagine why. If Gaspard truly was the one planning the empress’ death tonight, it was possible that his sister might have some sort of correspondence hidden in her room. The duchess had seemed sure of Gaspard’s guilt, after all.</p>
<p>“I knew her before, you know,” the servant says bitterly. “When she was still Celene’s pet. I bet that’s why she wanted me gone. I know her big secret.”</p>
<p>“Figures,” Trev mutters, rubbing at her forehead. Whether or not the elf survived her trip to the royal wing, Briala would gain something, either evidence to corner the true criminal or an inconvenient voice silenced. “Go to the ballroom and find one of my people. They’ll make sure you’re safe. Leliana would probably be easiest to get a private word to.”</p>
<p>“Sister Nightingale?” the elf says, looking stricken. “You’re sure?”</p>
<p>Trev gives a wry grin. “Tell her Trev sent you. And give her this.” She produces the locket from where it’s been tucked safely in her sash, out of sight. “She’ll know it’s from me.”</p>
<p>The servant stares down at the locket, then glances back up at Trev. “Thank you, Inquisitor. I won’t forget this.”</p>
<p>She scurries away then, the locket clutched tightly in her hands, and she mumbles her thanks to Cassandra and Dorian as well as she passes between them. Dorian looks after her with bemusement; Cassandra shakes her head.</p>
<p>“Was it wise to entrust that locket to her?” Cassandra asks.</p>
<p>Trev shrugs. “Leliana might not have believed her without something from me. And besides, it’s not too big a deal if something happens to it. It doesn’t matter to me who Celene loves so long as she does her job.”</p>
<p>“That seems a rather naive view,” Cassandra says dryly, crossing her arms and giving Trev a <em>look</em>.</p>
<p>“Call me a romantic,” Trev says back, grinning. Cassandra scoffs and stalks from the room.</p>
<p>Dorian levels her with a knowing look and says once Cassandra is out of earshot, “<em>Romantic</em>? Since when?”</p>
<p>“I <em>may</em> have run my mouth off to the empress a bit much,” Trev tells him hesitantly. He groans and throws his hands up. “She doesn’t know <em>who</em>, thankfully, but she did express her sympathy for my ‘heartache’.”</p>
<p>She makes air quotes about the word, and Dorian rolls his eyes so hard, Trev is surprised they don’t roll straight out of his head. “Heartache,” he scoffs, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. “More like headache, amatus.”</p>
<p>“<em>Thank you</em> for your input, Dorian, now please do shut up.”</p>
<p>Trev leaves the room with her cheeks burning with embarrassment, and Dorian grumbles to himself as he follows her, kicking her in the heel once for good measure.</p>
<p>Cassandra sticks her head out of a door down the hall, looking pained. “Inquisitor,” she says, “there is a guard tied to a bed claiming the empress did it to him.”</p>
<p>She disappears back into the room, and after exchanging a glance with Dorian, Trev enters the room to find the man Cassandra had mentioned, hands tied to the bed posts and completely naked.</p>
<p>“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Trev tacks her eyes to the ceiling with a grimace. Dorian giggles. “Shit, Cassandra, you could have warned me!”</p>
<p>“I am trying hard not to notice it myself,” Cassandra grumbles, glaring at a wall.</p>
<p>Dorian, meanwhile, is brimming with glee. “You said the empress did this to you?” he asks the man.</p>
<p>“She-she tricked me!” the man blubbers. “I gave her our troop movements for tonight because she-she-” He dissolves into hysterics, and Dorian looks like Wintersend has come early.</p>
<p>“And you believed her?” Cassandra asks incredulously. “Maker, where do they find you people?”</p>
<p>“I have died and gone to hell,” Trev mutters, pressing her hands over her eyes. “And hell is full of idiots.”</p>
<p>“Don’t tell Gaspard!” the guard cries. “I’ve ruined his plan! When he strikes, the empress will have him arrested for treason.”</p>
<p>Trev risks a withering glance down at him. “I think Gaspard’s opinion of you is the least of your concerns right now.” She glances between Cassandra and Dorian. “Shall we leave him here to think about what he’s done?”</p>
<p>The man squeaks in dismay. Cassandra nods. “We can send someone to fetch him later.”</p>
<p>She leaves without a backward glance, and Trev quickly follows. Dorian is cackling like an evil villain as he pulls the door shut behind them, ignoring the man’s cries of protest.</p>
<p>“I take it back, you know,” Dorian says between giggles. “I wish Sera were here for just this moment.”</p>
<p>Cassandra groans and leads the way down the hall and the finely decorated bedrooms and into a large common room littered with construction supplies. Planks of wood and tools are scattered around the edges of the room, and a scaffold has been built off to the side beneath a half-painted wall.</p>
<p>“This must be what Gaspard damaged in his attack,” Dorian says, peering into the gloom farther down the hallway. “He really made a mess of the place, didn’t he?”</p>
<p>Trev opens the nearest door, which leads into a small courtyard. Before she can take more than a few steps, however, she finds herself with a whole retinue of arrows aimed at her. Behind her, Cassandra swears loudly and moves to draw her shield, but a voice speaks before she can.</p>
<p>“Ah, there you are, Inquisitor! I was beginning to wonder if you had taken my bait! You are so good at hiding your thoughts, you know.”</p>
<p>Florianne steps out of the shadow of a large marble statue on the balcony above them, hands tucked together in front of her and a smug smile on her lips.</p>
<p>There’s a quiet crackling from Trev’s hand, and she takes a quick glance to see the mark flaring to life, the green light of it glaring in the darkness of the small courtyard. A look up reveals the cause: a small rift sitting innocently in the air, half-sealed just like the Breach had been but still leaking errant strands of green Fade.</p>
<p>Quickly, Trev tucks her hand behind her back and out of sight, clenching it into a fist to hide the green glow. If she can open the rift, the demons could distract the archers, with only the risk of, well, demons. But if there was one thing she had become good at the past few months, it was killing demons. The archers were a much more prominent threat, especially without any of their usual armor. A well-placed arrow could end very badly.</p>
<p>“Sorry, I’m afraid my dance card for the evening is already full. Another time, perhaps?” Trev calls, waving her marked hand at her allies behind her, then motions for them to wait. She trusts they’ll be ready to strike when she makes her move, even if she can’t see them.</p>
<p>“A pity,” Florianne sneers. “But I’m afraid you won’t be doing much dancing after tonight.”</p>
<p>Trev scowls, and Florianne laughs, loud and ear-grating. It’s a smug laugh, the sort that wouldn’t sound out of place coming from an evil villain in a story, the laugh of someone who thinks they have their enemy cornered. The nails of Trev’s left hand dig painfully into her palm as she clenches it into a tighter fist.</p>
<p>“Finally, I will be rid of your incessant meddling. Corypheus insisted the empress die tonight, after all, and I would hate to disappoint him.”</p>
<p>“I imagine he’d be rather used to the feeling by now,” Trev deadpans. “So what, he promised to make you empress of the world or some shit?”</p>
<p>“Delivering southern Thedas to its future god would provide some useful perks, no? Such a shame you won’t be able to see the new world for yourself,” Florianne says with a sharp smile.<br/>Trev meets her eyes with a steady, unimpressed glare. “I’m sure I’ll manage to choke down my disappointment.”</p>
<p>“My dear Inquisitor.” Florianne clicks her tongue disapprovingly. “Words will not save you, just like they will not save Celene. With her eyes on Gaspard and Briala, she will never expect my dagger in her back. Or you dead in her gardens.” She looks down at the archers. “Kill her, and the others. Seeker Pentaghast’s death will be a mess to deal with, but no one will miss the ‘Vint.”</p>
<p>“Well, that’s just rude,” Dorian says petulantly as Cassandra spits something in Orlesian that would make Josephine squawk. Trev is inexplicably, stupidly delighted by the sound of Cassandra cursing so violently.</p>
<p>“Adieu, Inquisitor,” Florianne says, unruffled, and sweeps back into the building.</p>
<p>They can’t have but a few seconds before the archers fire, but they stretch out into eternity as Trev stares them down. Most of the arrows are aimed at her, of course, and a few at Cassandra, but Dorian is the lightest covered. Trev motions for a barrier.</p>
<p>The warmth of Dorian’s magic flickers over her even as she asks, and she dives headfirst at the feet of the nearest archer. She hears an arrow whiz over her head, and it is quickly followed by the rest of the arrows firing.</p>
<p>An arrow strikes flesh and there’s a pained cry from what sounds like Cassandra, and then the woman herself is flying over Trev’s head and crashing boot-first into the chest of one of the archers as they’re all scrambling to reload.</p>
<p>Trev rolls onto her back as fast as she can and throws her hand toward the sealed rift, pulling on the thread that’s holding it closed until she feels it bend under her grasp. A loud cracking rings through the courtyard, and Trev kips up and pulls at the daggers tucked into her belt.</p>
<p>“Fire, fire!” one of the men yells before Trev plunges a dagger into his throat.</p>
<p>“Demons!” another screams, and the archers quickly scatter.</p>
<p>A pair of shades screech as they emerge from the rift, lunging for the Venatori closest to them, who shriek in terror as the demons’ claws dig into their chests. Trev sidesteps the demons for now and turns toward the remaining archers.</p>
<p>An arrow grazes her just as she turns, what would have been a clean punch through her chest turning into a glancing blow to her ribs. Dorian’s barrier flickers, straining against the blow, warmth surging to the area. It burns for a few seconds before fading.</p>
<p>“I’ve got this side!” Cassandra cries from the other side of the courtyard, dancing between a trio of archers with ease as they try to knock her off-kilter with their bows. As Trev is watching, Cassandra smashes her shield hard into one as her sword skewers another.</p>
<p>Satisfied that Cassandra can handle herself, Trev turns to the last two archers, who have both reloaded and are pointing at her with shaky hands, arrows wavering in their unsteady grips. The shades give another ear-piercing shriek, and when the Venatori flinch at the sound, Trev lunges.</p>
<p>The archers fire in their panic, but the familiar tickling sensation of Dorian’s barrier keeps Trev steady, and the arrows, flying wildly, fall away uselessly against the magic. Trev’s daggers make easy work of the men.</p>
<p>Dorian’s fire spells are trapping the two shades in a whirling inferno, and Cassandra is standing ready to jump them if Dorian’s concentration falters. Dorian himself, sweat beading at his temples, pushes his palms together, and the shades howl under the hungry flames and disappear as the walls of their prison close in.</p>
<p>“More coming,” Trev calls as the rift sputters and crackles. “You two okay?”</p>
<p>“Nothing life-threatening,” Cassandra replies in a thick voice. In the dim light of the rift and the moon shining overhead, Trev can see the blood running down Cassandra’s sword arm, but the wound doesn’t seem to be slowing her.</p>
<p>“Peachy,” Dorian quips, shaking his hands out. The tips of his fingers look dark, but Trev hopes it’s just an unfortunately cast shadow.</p>
<p>A pair of wisps and a single shade appear, and Dorian immediately lashes out with a fireball at the nearest wisp, which shrieks unhappily as the flames catch it. Trev takes the three steps to reach it and finishes it off with her daggers.</p>
<p>Cassandra yells a wordless battle cry, drawing the attention of the last two enemies. She meets the shade’s claws with her shield, which creaks in protest beneath the blow. Since it’s more for decoration than actual protection, Trev is surprised the thing hasn’t actually broken yet, especially with how rough Cassandra can be with her weapons in a fight.</p>
<p>Trev joins her against the shade while Dorian faces down the last wisp, which looks torn between attacking him or Cassandra. Dorian takes advantage of its momentary distraction to throw a burst of flame at it.</p>
<p>The shade shrieks in protest at Trev’s daggers in its back, craning its head around to scream in her face, and its putrid breath is almost enough to knock Trev away. She turns her head just enough to cough and twists the dagger in her left hand.</p>
<p>Cassandra’s sword comes down on the shade’s head, splitting the demon neatly in half and sending it back into the rift, which crackles almost unhappily and opens, ready to be sealed. Trev raises a hand to it almost without thinking.</p>
<p>“It’s not deep,” she hears Dorian say as the rift fades away with a few last flickers of green light. Trev turns to see him prodding gently at the wound on Cassandra’s arm. “But I’m afraid your uniform is ruined. You must be devastated.”</p>
<p>Cassandra snorts and rolls her eyes. Dorian is smiling.</p>
<p>“I’ve got to get to the ballroom,” Trev blurts, still standing there in the middle of the courtyard, blood splattered across her uniform and daggers in her hands.</p>
<p>There’s a groan from the corner of the courtyard, and they all turn to see a man slowly sitting upright, holding his head in his bound hands. Trev glances from him to her friends, unsure. Cassandra looks back and jerks her head toward one of the doors.</p>
<p>“That should lead you back,” she says. “We’ll take care of him.”</p>
<p>“I owe you both a drink,” Trev says with a relieved grin and doesn’t stay to see their reaction, even if she can picture it perfectly, Cassandra with an uncaring shrug and Dorian with a pleased grin.</p>
<p>The rest of the hallways are empty, thankfully, and after only a few wrong turns, Trev finds herself back on familiar ground. She can see into the ballroom through a pair of windows and quickly finds the right door, locked from this side to prevent unwanted explorers, and shoves it open.</p>
<p>A few heads turn at her entrances, including Leliana’s, who looks to have been leaning against the railing overlooking the dance floor. She gapes at Trev for a few seconds before she regains herself and hurries over.</p>
<p>Trev is craning her neck as best she can to scan the ballroom, desperately searching for Florianne, ignoring the whispers and stares directed her way. Belatedly, she realizes she still has her daggers in her hands, and she quickly tucks them away in her belt.</p>
<p>“Trev, what-” Leliana starts to say, but Trev waves a hand and stops her.</p>
<p>“Where is Florianne?” she asks, setting a hand on Leliana’s shoulder to look past her.</p>
<p>Leliana frowns. “The duchess? Why-”</p>
<p>Then Trev spots her, eyes intent on the empress as she stands ready to address the court. Gaspard is at his sister’s side, looking disgruntled but otherwise at ease; Briala is glowering at them from a corner not far away.</p>
<p>Trev moves as fast as she can in the crowd, pushing and shoving without time for apologies. Florianne is too close, too close. Faintly, she hears Josephine calling her name.</p>
<p>“Your Grace!” she calls over the murmuring of the crowd once she’s close enough. Florianne whirls at her voice, face quickly draining of any color. Trev stops several feet away from her and glares at her, lips widening in smile she knows promises blood. “I believe we owe the court one more show.”</p>
<p>Florianne glares back. “Inquisitor,” she says with clear disdain.</p>
<p>Trev smiles back, almost baring her teeth. “Everyone’s watching, Your Grace. Smile.” She takes a few steps forward, and Florianne matches them backward, smiling an obviously transparent smile. “Wouldn’t want them to think you’d lost control.”</p>
<p>“You simply took me by surprise, Inquisitor,” Florianne lies poorly even as she takes another step backward away from Trev.</p>
<p>“What was it you said again?” Trev sneers, looming closer. “’She will never expect my dagger in her back’? But no, perhaps I misheard with all those arrows aimed at me and my friends.”</p>
<p>The whispers grow louder, and there are a few gasps. If anyone hadn’t been paying attention before, they certainly are now.</p>
<p>“You hid your own plot so well, Your Grace,” Trev continues. “You framed your brother for the murder of a council emissary as well as had Ambassador Briala’s people killed, all to point the finger away from yourself.”</p>
<p>More gasps. Gaspard turns a ruddy color beneath his mask, and Celene watches them with a carefully raised eyebrow. Briala’s expression has darkened to something dangerous.</p>
<p>“It was a very ambitious plan, of course. Celene, Gaspard, the entire Council of Heralds, how convenient they were all here tonight under the same roof. You could deal with them all in the same motion and win the day.”</p>
<p>“S-surely you do not imagine that anyone believes these wild claims?” Florianne blabbers, glancing around wildly as if searching for someone to save her.</p>
<p>“I believe that is a judge’s decision,” Celene says mildly. Her eyes are like ice behind her mask.</p>
<p>Florianne turns to her brother, obviously intent on pleading her case with him, but before she can say anything, there are a few shrieks from behind Trev, and she smiles when she hears Dorian’s chipper voice. “Have we missed it?” he asks happily, then after a pause, “Ah, excellent. We’re just in time, Cassandra.”</p>
<p>Cassandra is hauling the man from the courtyard under one arm, looking annoyed and dripping blood on the nice floors. “We have a witness,” she announces and shoves the man in front of her. Some of the nobles nearby skitter backward in fright.</p>
<p>“She did it,” the man says thickly through a broken nose, pointing shakily at Florianne. “Heard the whole damn thing myself. Was gonna feed me to the demons, she was.”</p>
<p>As one, all heads in the room turn back toward Florianne, who has lost what little color she has left. Behind her, Celene regards her coldly.</p>
<p>“I believe that is sufficient enough evidence,” the empress says and waves a hand.</p>
<p>The guards that had spent all night standing like statues along the edges of the room now move as one toward Florianne, who finally seems to lose the last thread of her control and begins sobbing as one of the guards grabs her roughly by the elbow.</p>
<p>As Florianne is hauled away by a retinue of guards, Trev turns to the empress. “Your Majesty,” she says, “I think we should talk.” She glances over her shoulder at all the faces watching them hungrily. “Elsewhere.”</p>
<p>Celene nods and leads the way toward the balcony at the back of the ballroom, the same one she and Trev had talked on earlier. Gaspard follows them hurriedly and Briala more quietly but with a dark cloud looming over her.</p>
<p>As soon as the balcony doors close behind them, Briala snaps. “Your sister attempted regicide in front of the entire court, Gaspard!” she spits.</p>
<p>Gaspard whirls on her and thrusts a finger at her chest. “You’re the spy here! If anyone knew this was coming, it was you!”</p>
<p>“You expect us to believe you weren’t involved?”</p>
<p>“Of course! I knew nothing of Florianne’s plans, but you, you knew it all along and did nothing!”</p>
<p>Briala scoffs. “I don’t know which is better: that you think I’m all-seeing or that you’re trying so hard to play innocent and failing.”</p>
<p>Trev takes the opportunity to clear her throat, halting the argument before it can turn nasty. The empress, who seems to have mostly dropped her veneer of absolute calm, motions for her to speak. Trev tucks her hands behind her back and does.</p>
<p>“For what it’s worth, Your Majesty, I did stumble across Ambassador Briala during my search down in the servant’s quarters. She was searching for answers just like we were. Gaspard, however, I cannot say the same for.”</p>
<p>Gaspard huffs and attempts to interrupt, but Celene silences him with a sharp look.</p>
<p>“Seeker Pentaghast found a letter in Gaspard’s office ordering his own men into position around the palace. I’m sure she’d be happy to let you have it, Your Grace.”</p>
<p>“How convenient that you don’t have the letter yourself,” Gaspard sneers.</p>
<p>“Yes, I’m sure the Right Hand of the Divine frequently lies and forges letters,” Briala deadpans, to which Gaspard glowers.</p>
<p>Trev ignores them and continues. “You know about his plans for the night already though, don’t you, Your Grace? He’s still tied up in the back as far as I know.”</p>
<p>Celene almost smiles, and Briala goggles briefly at the empress.</p>
<p>The door the balcony opens, and they all turn to see Leliana waving a guard off. The guard looks from her to Celene before the empress nods and dismisses him with a wave. Leliana joins them all on the balcony and pulls the door shut behind herself.</p>
<p>She bows shortly to the empress before speaking. “Your Grace, I have it on good authority that while Gaspard did not know of his sister’s plans for the evening, he <em>was</em> planning a coup of his own. There are several witnesses I can produce, of course, as well as letters and notes penned in the Grand Duke’s own hand.”</p>
<p>The smile she gives Celene is all teeth, and even without her usual cloak to cast ominous shadows over her face, the expression is bone-chilling. Gaspard swallows thickly and glances nervously between her and Celene.</p>
<p>“A true master of her craft,” Celene says with a hint of admiration, and Leliana preens a little under the praise even as she leers at Gaspard. “Then cousin, in light of overwhelming evidence, we have no choice but to declare you an enemy of the empire. I place you under arrest for the charges of treason, to await execution at a later date.”</p>
<p>Gaspard splutters uselessly but allows the guards Celene summons to haul him away, head sinking down to his chest. Briala watches him go with no small amount of satisfaction.</p>
<p>The doors shut behind the guards, and once they’re alone again, Leliana says suddenly, “Ambassador Briala and her people provided me with much of my information tonight, Your Grace, as did Lady Morrigan. They were both very insistent you survive the night.”</p>
<p>Celene blinks and turns to Briala, whose ears have turned a light shade of red. “I thought you hated me,” Celene says quietly. “You should, for what I’ve done.”</p>
<p>Briala gives a half-hearted shrug, eyes downcast and refusing to meet the empress’ eyes. “I tried,” she admits just as quietly. “I guess past feelings are just impossible to get rid of.”</p>
<p>“Indeed,” Celene murmurs, watching Briala with soft eyes.</p>
<p>Leliena takes the opportunity to clear her throat and produce the elven locket, holding it out to the pair. Both Celene and Briala stare disbelievingly at it, and Trev quirks an eyebrow of her own. “This is yours, I understand, Your Grace.”</p>
<p>This time, instead of turning away, Celene reaches out and takes the locket. Trev figures she understands exactly what it means that Leliana is willingly returning it, of the trust Leliana is placing in her.</p>
<p>“Thank you for everything you have done tonight,” Celene says, the locket clenched tightly in one fist. “To you, Inquisitor, as well as the rest of your people.” She gives Leliana a nod that seems to carry a load of meaning; Leliana returns with another short bow. “Now, let us address the nobles.”</p>
<p>She sweeps back into the ballroom, all traces of her earlier softness replaced by the steely resolve she had shown all night. Trev smiles and follows her but doesn’t miss Leliana melting back into the crowd with ease. She’ll have plenty of time to talk to her later.</p>
<p>Celene takes her place at the head of the ballroom, and Trev stands just behind her shoulder. Briala hangs back, arms crossed and a thoughtful look on her face, and watches as Celene addresses the waiting crowd.</p>
<p>“Lords and ladies of the court,” she says, her voice ringing clearly throughout the ballroom and drawing all eyes to her. “Tonight is a night of celebration! Those who sought to poison our empire with treason have been brought to justice with the help of the Inquisition. The war is now over, and we shall begin to rebuild the world into a place where all live together in harmony.”</p>
<p>She turns just slightly and motions for Briala to join them. For a moment, Briala just stands there, clearly surprised at being asked to stand in front of the court, but she quickly regains her composure and moves to Celene’s other side, head held high. Whispers quickly begin below.</p>
<p>“Tonight I lay the cornerstone of change,” Celene says. “I introduce the newest member of our court: Marquise Briala of the Dales.”</p>
<p>Many jaws fall open in disbelief, and the whispers begin anew, louder. But Briala is beaming as she steps forward to address the shocked nobles.</p>
<p>“Tonight is not just a victory for those here tonight, or the empire, or even for elves alone. This is a triumph for everyone. Over a thousand years ago in the Valarian Fields, elves and humans together defeated the Imperium. We can do so much more now, together, as one people, and we will start by standing together to save our world from the monster who took the Divine from us and tore the sky apart!”</p>
<p>Briala looks to Trev then, who swallows nervously and steps forward. “Tonight proves exactly what we can all accomplish by working together. As nobles and commoners, as humans and elves, as mages and non-mages. If we unite, there is no enemy we cannot defeat. My people are working tirelessly to find those responsible for the state of the world, and we will not rest until they are brought to justice.”</p>
<p>“But that is for tomorrow,” Celene says, spreading her hands. “Tonight, we celebrate newfound fellowship. Let the festivities commence!”</p>
<p>The crowd roars, but whether it’s in approval of their words or simply the prospect of a tremendous party, Trev can’t really tell. Celene is quickly beset by nobles, and Trev soon finds herself trapped by them as well, all of them talking over top of each other until it all sounds like white noise to her.</p>
<p>After what feels like hours, she finally manages to extract herself from the incessant questions of what had ensued earlier in the night or requests for other stories like how she’d ‘crushed’ the Mage Rebellion or sealed the breach.</p>
<p>She flees to an abandoned balcony and breaths deeply of the fresh air as she finally allows the tension she’s been carrying all night to dissipate. She sags against the outer railing and sighs heavily, and then almost jumps out of her skin when someone speaks from only a few steps behind her.</p>
<p>“All the nobles make drunken toasts to your victory, and yet you flee rather than hear them?” The voice is unmistakably Morrigan’s, and Trev lifts her head to see the woman leaning against the railing and smirking down at her.  “Surely you aren’t tired of their congratulations already? ‘Tis most fickle of you.”</p>
<p>Trev laughs. “They ran out of punch, you see,” she says, grinning. “And I can’t handle Orlesians unless I’m three cups deep.”</p>
<p>“A perfectly reasonable approach,” Morrigan says with a laugh. A real laugh, not just a chuckle or snicker. “Let’s see if this piece of news sends you running for more wine. By Imperial decree,” she sneers the words, “I have been named liaison to the Inquisition. Celene wishes to extend any aid she can - including, apparently, mine. Congratulations.”</p>
<p>The last word is said perfectly deadpan, and Morrigan looks down at Trev with an expression that says she clearly expects a poor reaction. Trev blinks at her, taken aback by the news, before she straightens up with a smile.</p>
<p>“Did you get any say in this appointment?” she asks, and Morrigan shrugs, seemingly unbothered.</p>
<p>“I admit, I am not opposed to the appointment. You need information, and I can provide it. As well as another mage, though according to rumor, you are hardly lacking in those.”</p>
<p>“Mages, no. Allies, yes. Welcome aboard, Morrigan.”</p>
<p>She holds out a hand, which Morrigan takes after a moment and lets go quickly. “A most gracious response,” she says with a sly smile. “I will gather my things together and follow you to Skyhold. I don’t have much, but I should warn you, I will be bringing someone with me.”</p>
<p>Trev is surprised. “Really? You have someone around here you trust enough to join you?”</p>
<p>The smile Morrigan gives her is one of some secret as of yet unshared. “You will understand once I introduce you, Inquisitor,” she says cryptically. “Until then.”</p>
<p>She curtsies and turns to leave, and Trev watches her go, amused despite herself. Compared to the rest of the court, Morrigan is wonderfully refreshing. She is keeping secrets, of course, but at least she’s honest about it.</p>
<p>Leliana appears in the doorway just as Morrigan reaches it, and for just one moment, the two of them stare at each other in silence. Something passes between them, and Trev sees Leliana’s expression tighten just slightly.</p>
<p>Then the moment breaks and Morrigan disappears into the ballroom, and Leliana is leaning against the railing next to Trev.</p>
<p>“Morrigan will be joining us, then?” she asks with just the faintest trace of tension in her voice.</p>
<p>Trev doesn’t even bother asking how she’d heard already, just shakes her head and chuckles. “Yes. She and one other person will be riding back with us. She didn’t say who, of course.”</p>
<p>“Ah.” Leliana looks surprised all of a sudden, and Trev frowns at her. Then Leliana laughs and grins with real happiness. “I can’t wait to meet them.” And she seems sincere, which confuses Trev even more. Did Leliana like Morrigan or not? She truly can’t figure it out. “But enough about Morrigan,” she says, pulling Trev from her thoughts, “how are you?”</p>
<p>“Just tired,” Trev says honestly. “How in the world do you and Josephine <em>enjoy</em> all this mess?”</p>
<p>Leliana’s eyes twinkle as she smirks at Trev. “It’s an acquired taste, I suppose. How is your side?”</p>
<p>She motions at the area, and Trev is confused until she looks down and sees the obvious rip in her uniform where the Venatori arrow had grazed her earlier. The wound is purely superficial, however; Dorian’s barrier had saved her from taking any real damage.</p>
<p>“I’m okay,” Trev says, showing Leliana her fingers clear of any blood from the wound. “Cassandra took a much worse shot than I did.”</p>
<p>“Yes, she made quite a scene bursting through the door and bleeding all over the place. Almost as much as the Inquisitor herself bursting through the same door covered in blood and holding her daggers with a crazed look in her eyes.”</p>
<p>Trev laughs and takes in her uniform, which is in fact flecked with drying blood, none of it her own. “I made quite the scene, I guess. No wonder you reacted like you did when you saw me. I probably looked half-mad.”</p>
<p>“I’m surprised no delicate noble fainted at the sight of you, honestly.”</p>
<p>They’re both quiet for a few minutes, the only noise coming from the party in full swing behind them. Trev enjoys the comfortable silence, content to enjoy the momentary peace as well as the pleasant company. Ever since the argument they’d had after escaping Haven, the two of them had only exchanged terse words over the war table, much to Josephine’s frustration.</p>
<p>Then a question suddenly occurs to Trev, one she can’t bring herself to leave unasked. “Leliana,” she says, voice quiet and a little hesitant, “why did you return the locket?”</p>
<p>Leliana doesn’t answer at first, just stares off into the gardens and drums her fingers on the railing along to the beat of the song drifting out from the ballroom. “Because,” she finally says once Trev has begun to regret asking the question, “people should be allowed to love who they love, no matter what’s right or proper. As long as they don’t break my trust, I won’t spoil their love, what fragile bit of it remains.”</p>
<p>It’s quiet again as Trev processes the words, surprised by the frank admission. It’s rather sweet of Leliana, something much at odds with the cold, harsh face she shows to the world.</p>
<p>“Plus,” Leliana says, her voice lighter, “I always have that elven servant you sent me.” She flashes Trev a positively devious grin, and Trev can’t help but laugh, even as the look causes butterflies to burst loose in her stomach.</p>
<p>“You know,” Trev says with an exaggerated sigh, “all that dance practice Josephine put me though, and the only person I get to dance with tonight is trying to kill me.”</p>
<p>She grins sideways at Leliana, who is looking at her with barely disguised fondness. “Well, then,” Leliana says, standing up and straightening her uniform, “we can’t let that be tonight’s greatest tragedy.”</p>
<p>And she holds out her hand with a smirk that’s softened around the edges into something warm, and Trev, with nerves making her heart beat frantically in her throat, takes it with a grin so wide that it makes her cheeks ache.</p>
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